Competency 6.4: Specific Facet First, Dialog

For my Dialog search I chose the most specific facet first technique, since I knew that this search strategy has the potential to return the best possible results the quickest. I intended to search Dissertation Abstracts for anything about the use of Teen Second Life in libraries. Teen Second Life would definitely be the most specific facet, so I searched for it and got no hits. Then I tried Second Life, figuring that would be less specific, and also got no hits. Then I tried MySpace and got eight results.



Several of the results looked as if they would apply to using MySpace in libraries, including one about folksonomies and one involving students in Brazil.



I logged off quickly to avoid incurring more charges!

Using Dialog made me realize how difficult searching must have been when librarians had to log on to a remote database and incur charges the whole time. And it must have been especially difficult when searches were done in batch mode, since the patron who made the request wasn't even there to answer clarifying questions or modify the search.

I thought the Dialog blue sheets were helpful in explaining the coverage areas of various databases, but I was shocked at the lack of instruction on the search page itself. If I hadn't known to type "ss" for "start search," for instance, there was nothing on the page that would have let me know that I couldn't just type in my search term. I suppose that there must be training in Dialog for people who pay for the service, meaning that anyone who can log on is already expected to know the basics.